“I can’t stand in the square with her.” Brand flipped the sword over and set furiously to work on the other side. “All I can do is polish and pray. I plan to do both the best I can.”
Brand knew Thorn would show no fear. But she even had the hint of a smile as she sat, elbows on her knees and her hands calmly dangling, the elf-bangle on her wrist glowing bright. She had a steel guard on her left arm but otherwise no armor, just leather stitched in places with steel rings, bound tight with straps and belts so there was nothing left loose to catch a hold of. Queen Laithlin stood at her side, binding her tangled hair tight against her skull, fingers moving sure and steady as if it was for a wedding feast rather than a duel. Two brave faces there, and no mistake. The bravest in the camp, for all they were the two with most to lose.
So when Thorn glanced over at him, Brand did his best to nod back with a brave face of his own. That much he could do. That, and polish, and pray.
“Is she ready?” murmured Father Yarvi.
“It’s Thorn. She’s always ready. Whatever these idiots might think.”
The warriors had been gathering since first light and now there was a whispering crowd looking on, pressed in about the tents, peering over one another’s shoulders. Master Hunnan was in the front rank, and couldn’t have frowned any harder without tearing the deep-creased skin on his forehead. Brand could see the dismay and disgust on their faces. That some girl should be fighting for Gettland’s honor while the sworn warriors stood idle. A girl who’d failed a test and been named a murderer. A girl who wore no mail and carried no shield.
Thorn showed no sign of giving a damn for their opinion as she stood, though. She looked as long and lean as a spider, the way Skifr used to but taller, and broader, and stronger, and she spread her arms wide and worked the fingers, her jaw set hard and her narrowed eyes fixed on the valley.
Queen Laithlin set a hand on her shoulder. “May Mother War stand with you, my Chosen Shield.”
“She always has, my queen,” said Thorn.
“It’s nearly time.” Father Yarvi poured some of his brew into a cup and held it out with his good hand. “Drink this.”
Thorn sniffed at it and jerked back. “Smells foul!”
“The best brews do. This will sharpen your senses, and quicken your hands and dull any pain.”
“Is that cheating?”
“Mother Isriun will be using every trick she can devise.” And Yarvi held out the steaming cup again. “A champion must win, the rest is dust.”
Thorn held her nose, swallowed it down, and spat with disgust.
Rulf stepped up, shield held like a tray with two knives laid on it, freshly sharpened. “Sure you don’t want mail?”
Thorn shook her head. “Speed will be my best armor and my best weapon. Speed, and surprise, and aggression. These might come in handy too, though.” She took the blades and slid them into sheaths at her chest and her side.
“One more for luck.” Brand held out the dagger that Rin made him, the one he’d carried up and down the Divine and the Denied. The one that saved his life out on the steppe.
“I’ll keep it safe.” Thorn slid it through her belt at the small of her back.
“I’d rather it kept you safe,” murmured Brand.
“A lot of blades,” said Father Yarvi.
“Got caught without any once and didn’t enjoy the experience,” said Thorn. “I won’t be dying for lack of stabbing back, at least.”
“You won’t be dying.” Brand made sure his voice held no doubts, even if his heart was bursting with them. “You’ll be killing the bastard.”
“Aye.” She leaned close. “I feel like my guts are going to drop out of my arse.”
“I’d never know.”
“Fear keeps you careful,” she muttered, hands opening and closing. “Fear keeps you alive.”
“No doubt.”
“I wish Skifr was here.”
“You’ve got nothing left to learn from her.”
“A little of that elf-magic might not hurt, though. Just in case.”
“And rob you of the glory? No.” Brand showed her both sides of the sword, a frosty glint to the edges he’d been polishing since the first hint of light. “Don’t hesitate.”
“Never,” she said, as she slid the blade through the clasp at her side and held her hand out for the ax. “Why did you? That day on the beach?”
Brand thought back, back down a long, strange year to the training square on the sand. “I was thinking about doing good.” He spun the ax around, steel etched with letters in five tongues flashing. “Looking at both sides of the case, like the fool I am.”
“You’d have beaten me if you hadn’t.”
“Maybe.”
Thorn slid the ax through its loop. “I would’ve failed my test and Hunnan would never have given me another. I wouldn’t have killed Edwal. I wouldn’t have been called a murderer. I wouldn’t have been trained by Skifr, or rowed down the Divine, or saved the empress, or had songs sung of my high deeds.”